CUP: Comprehensive User-Space Protection for C/C++

Memory corruption vulnerabilities in C/C++ applications enable attackers to execute code, change data, and leak information. Current memory sanitizers do no provide comprehensive coverage of a program's data. In particular, existing tools focus primarily on heap allocations with limited support for stack allocations and globals. Additionally, existing tools focus on the main executable with limited support for system libraries. Further, they suffer from both false positives and false negatives. We present Comprehensive User-Space Protection for C/C++, CUP, an LLVM sanitizer that provides complete spatial and probabilistic temporal memory safety for C/C++ program on 64-bit architectures (with a prototype implementation for x86_64). CUP uses a hybrid metadata scheme that supports all program data including globals, heap, or stack and maintains the ABI. Compared to existing approaches with the NIST Juliet test suite, CUP reduces false negatives by 10x (0.1%) compared to the state of the art LLVM sanitizers, and produces no false positives. CUP instruments all user-space code, including libc and other system libraries, removing them from the trusted code base

Data-Free Knowledge Distillation Using Adversarially Perturbed OpenGL Shader Images

Knowledge distillation (KD) has been a popular and effective method for model compression. One important assumption of KD is that the original training dataset is always available. However, this is not always the case due to privacy concerns and more. In recent years, "data-free" KD has emerged as a growing research topic which focuses on the scenario of performing KD when no data is provided. Many methods rely on a generator network to synthesize examples for distillation (which can be difficult to train) and can frequently produce images that are visually similar to the original dataset, which raises questions surrounding whether privacy is completely preserved. In this work, we propose a new approach to data-free KD that utilizes unnatural OpenGL images, combined with large amounts of data augmentation and adversarial attacks, to train a student network. We demonstrate that our approach achieves state-of-the-art results for a variety of datasets/networks and is more stable than existing generator-based data-free KD methods. Source code will be available in the future

Evaluating Visual/Verbal Online Finance Students

This study attempted to determine to what extent audio, video, or some combination of audio/video portions of lecture presentations were helpful in addressing issues related to anxiety, mastering the material presented, and making the class more personal. For several different finance courses, course content with both text and audiovisual material was loaded onto a server using the Adobe Breeze and Adobe Captivate 2 Screen Capture programs on a BLACKBOARD platform. Results based on multiple regression models showed that the new visual and audio portions of the lectures allowed respondents to master the material more effectively, which lead to lower levels of anxiety. Results also showed that making the class more personal through the visual and audio material improved students’ sense that they were mastering the material

Unifying heterogeneous state-spaces with lenses

Most verification approaches embed a model of program state into their semantic treatment. Though a variety of heterogeneous state-space models exists,they all possess common theoretical properties one would like to capture abstractly,such as the common algebraic laws of programming. In this paper,we propose lenses as a universal state-space modelling solution. Lenses provide an abstract interface for manipulating data types through spatially-separated views. We define a lens algebra that enables their composition and comparison,and apply it to formally model variables and alphabets in Hoare and He’s Unifying Theories of Programming (UTP). The combination of lenses and relational algebra gives rise to a model for UTP in which its fundamental laws can be verified. Moreover,we illustrate how lenses can be used to model more complex state notions such as memory stores and parallel states. We provide a mechanisation in Isabelle/HOL that validates our theory,and facilitates its use in program verification

Nebraska Trapping

Fur bearers and trapping played an important role in the exploration and development of Nebraska. The harvest of our fur-bearer resource is part of every Nebraskan\u27s heritage. Wise use of the resource and consideration for other people\u27s property and personal rights can insure that trapping will remain a part of the heritage of future generations. The purpose of this publication is to help insure this heritage ... through the educational process. Knowledge of and respect for the resource, as well as consideration for other people, are the keys to perpetuating trapping as an outdoor activity. While primarily designed to assist the young or novice trapper, this manual should benefit veterans as well. Contrary to popular belief, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Trapping is a biologically sound and legitimate use of a renewable natural resource. In fact, it is our primary means of managing fur-bearer populations, and management is essential to the health and well-being of all wildlife species. Significant problems develop for both the wildlife and man when management is not practiced and numbers are allowed to exceed what the habitat or environment will support. An Open Letter to Trappers • Trapping ... Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow • Pre-Season Preparation • Muskrat • Mink • Beaver • Raccoon • Opossum • Coyote • Fox • Skunk • Badger • Weasel • Releasing an Unwanted Catch • After the Catch • Trapping Summary • Trapper\u27s Cree

The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility: Issues for Congress

The agricultural and food infrastructure of the United States may be susceptible to terrorist attack using biological pathogens. In addition to the economic effects of such an attack, some animal pathogens could cause illness in humans. Diseases that can spread from animals to people are known as zoonotic diseases. Scientific and medical research on plant and animal diseases may lead to the discovery and development of new diagnostics and countermeasures, reducing the risk and effects of a successful terrorist attack. To safeguard the United States against the introduction of non-native animal disease, Congress has appropriated funds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Some of this work is performed at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), located off the coast of New York. Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003 and transferred ownership and operation of PIADC from USDA to DHS. The USDA and DHS cooperate to conduct foreign animal disease research at PIADC, but they have identified PIADC as outdated and too limited to continue as the primary facility for this research. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9, issued by President G.W. Bush, tasks the Secretaries of Agriculture and Homeland Security to develop a plan to provide safe, secure, and state-of-theart agriculture biocontainment laboratories for research and development of diagnostic capabilities and medical countermeasures for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases. To partially meet these obligations, DHS has requested Congress appropriate funds to construct a new facility, the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). This facility would house highbiocontainment laboratories able to hold the pathogens currently under investigation at PIADC, as well as other pathogens of interest. The DHS has selected Manhattan, Kansas, as the NBAF site and plans to open the facility in 2015. The DHS estimates the final, total facility construction cost as $725 million, significantly exceeding earlier projections. Additional expenses, such as equipping the new facility, relocating existing personnel and programs, and preparing the PIADC facility for disposition, are expected to add$190 million. Research with live foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus is allowed on the U.S. mainland only if explicitly permitted by the USDA Secretary. However, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246) instructs USDA to issue such a permit to DHS for possession of FMD virus at NBAF, subject to select agent rules. The DHS plans regarding the NBAF raise several policy issues. Concerns about safety and security, previously expressed about PIADC and other laboratories being built to study dangerous pathogens, are also being voiced about NBAF. Coordination between DHS and USDA, as well as prioritization and investment in agricultural biodefense, may be reassessed if more highcontainment laboratory space becomes available

Global Sentry: NASA/USRA high altitude reconnaissance aircraft design, volume 2

The Global Sentry is a high altitude reconnaissance aircraft design for the NASA/USRA design project. The Global Sentry uses proven technologies, light-weight composites, and meets the R.F.P. requirements. The mission requirements for the Global Sentry are described. The configuration option is discussed and a description of the final design is given. Preliminary sizing analyses and the mass properties of the design are presented. The aerodynamic features of the Global Sentry are described along with the stability and control characteristics designed into the flight control system. The performance characteristics are discussed as is the propulsion installation and system layout. The Global Sentry structural design is examined, including a wing structural analysis. The cockpit, controls and display layouts are covered. Manufacturing is covered and the life cost estimation. Reliability is discussed. Conclusions about the current Global Sentry design are presented, along with suggested areas for future engineering work